


Worn Down

by ao_no_senshi



Category: Ultraman Gaia
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-25
Updated: 2011-06-25
Packaged: 2017-10-23 23:00:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/256037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ao_no_senshi/pseuds/ao_no_senshi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's not easy being Gaia. Some days it's tougher than others.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Worn Down

Since becoming Gaia, Gamu had become more acutely aware of how much _harder_ the ground was than he would have liked. It didn't seem to matter much when he was fighting as Gaia, the power of the giant sustaining him and usually preventing injuries more serious than bruises, but some days it just... didn't go so well. And on those days the ground was _really hard._ Ow.

Back in his own natural form he tried to push himself up to his feet but his head spun with the effort and he dropped back to the ground with a whimper. That fight had really not gone well at all. He'd won but only barely and it was just as well Agul hadn't shown up as well because then he'd probably be in even worse shape. As it was it had drained all of their resources - both him and Gaia - to defeat that monster, leaving him bruised, sore and tired, so very tired. Maybe if he just... went to sleep right here that wouldn't be too bad. It wasn't as if trying to move was doing him any good, so, by process of elimination not moving was clearly the better option. He was vaguely aware of voices coming from... somewhere, but he couldn't focus enough to pinpoint where they were coming from or even care about them at all.

All he wanted to do was sleep.

***

Scanning the area carefully, Kajio Katsumi frowned and flipped his Navi open. "Atsuko, are you sure those were the right co-ordinates?"

"Perfectly," was the frosty reply and he scowled. It wasn't as if he was questioning her competence or anything but there was no sign of Gamu at all. "He's there. Or," she added, the faintest twinge of doubt in her voice, "his Navi is, anyway."

Which told him exactly nothing. If Gamu had lost his Navi then it was going to be even harder to find him. "I'll keep looking," he told her. "Kajio out." Damn it, where _was_ the guy? He'd gone silent just before Gaia had shown up and no-one had been able to raise him since. Much as he hated to admit it, he was starting to get a little worried: it wasn't like Gamu to go completely off the grid, something had to have happened, he just couldn't figure out what.

His Navi crackled into life and he flipped it open again. "He's not with the EX, Kajio-san," Ogawara said. "There's no sign of him anywhere."

Katsumi pinched the bridge of his nose tightly. Wonderful. Strike _that_ option then. "See if the AI knows anything," he replied. If PAL didn't know anything either then maybe, just maybe, it was really time to start worrying.

"Roger. Ogawara out."

"Kitada, anything yet?"

"Sorry, Leader. Nothing."

"Keep looking."

"Roger."

"Come on, Gamu, where are you?" he muttered, studying the area again, not quite resigned to hunting for the Navi instead of the person yet. And even if he was, they were in the heart of the industrial sector, it would be almost impossible to find something that small here, even before people scared off by the monster attack started trickling back in. The area was still silent, at least, that was something he supposed; he wouldn't have to deal with angry, frightened civilians today. Assuming he found Gamu before they came back, anyway.

Working his way deeper into the sector, he rounded a corner and stopped abruptly at the sight of Gamu sprawled face down on the ground at the far end of the street. Breaking into a run, he skidded to a stop beside his friend, dropping to a crouch and feeling for a pulse, worry making the blood pound loudly in his ears until he felt the steady beat under his fingers. He sagged in relief, then sat back on his heels, taking a deep, calming breath before opening his Navi again.

"I found him," he announced. "He's out cold, though. I could use a med team here, Commander."

"On the way," his CO replied. "Stay where you are, Kajio."

"Yes, sir." He waited until the connection had safely ended before rolling his eyes. Where exactly was he going to go? "You," he told his friend sternly, "are in big trouble, buddy, worrying me like this." It wasn't something he would ever admit to Gamu's face but the guy was still out, he was safe enough.

"Sorry," came the faint reply and he started in surprise, his eyes going wide as Gamu slowly started to move. Or at least _tried_ to move. Huh, maybe not as safe as he'd thought, then. Hopefully Gamu wouldn't remember this later: it wouldn't do to let him think he was getting sentimental or anything like that, after all.

"Don't even try," he said firmly, resting a hand between Gamu's shoulderblades in warning. "There's a med team on the way. Don't even _think_ about moving until they get here."

He was expecting a retort, even a weak one, so he was more concerned when Gamu obeyed with a quiet, "Okay," as he went still once more. Brushing his thumb over his mouth, Katsumi shifted into a more comfortable sitting position and leant back against the wall.

"So," he said into the quiet. "Talk to me. What happened?" Keep him talking, don't let him pass out again, that would probably be bad.

"Mm?" was the vague response and Katsumi sighed, propping his chin onto the back of his hand.

"How'd you end up here?" he tried. Maybe asking about this wouldn't work, though, he thought. He'd have to switch topics if this one didn't lead anywhere.

There was a long silence and he was beginning to think that maybe Gamu had passed out again when Gamu replied with a confused-sounding "I don't remember, Kajio-san. I'm sorry."

"Okay, that's okay," he said soothingly, his stomach clenching with worry. It couldn't be a good sign that he didn't remember, right? "We'll talk about something else, then, okay? What about baseball, do you follow that at all?"

"No."

Figured. "Not interested, huh?"

"I was too busy studying," Gamu replied. "I never really had time."

"Well, you have time now," Katsumi said. "When you're back on your feet I'm teaching you all about it."

"But..."

"Think about it as extra credit if that helps. Or summer school, whatever."

"I never went to summer school."

"I'll bet," Katsumi replied dryly. "Probably top of your class in everything, right?"

"Not everything," Gamu protested, sounding a bit more awake and alert. "I left at fourteen, anyway."

" _Fourteen?_ Wait, is that when you went to university?" There was a quiet hum of agreement and Katsumi couldn't quite wrap his brain around that one. Who went from a Bachelor's degree to PhD in three years? No wonder Gamu hadn't had time for anything outside of studying, he thought. How'd he even found time to _sleep?_ He knew he'd been pretty focused himself, going though university and flight school, but he'd still found time to relax every now and then.

His ears pricked up at the sound of a distant engine. Hopefully that was the med team... No, he realised as it drove right on by. Not the med team. And Gamu was drifting off again, crap. "You didn't really have time for much, then, huh."

"Not really." Gamu sounded like he was on the verge of sleep and Katusmi bit his lip. Objectively he knew the med team was on its way but subjectively he wanted to know what the hell was keeping them.

"Well, we can fix that now," he decided. "You should get out more."

"I don't want to hear that," Gamu replied faintly, "from Mr. Unsociable."

"Hey, I'm perfectly sociable, thank you very much."

There was a soft chuckle and he frowned in mild irritation. Okay, maybe his people skills weren't the best. So what?

"It's okay, Kajio-san. I like you anyway."

Katsumi felt his lips twitching in response and he reached out to ~~ruffle~~ poke at Gamu's hair. "You are such a brat sometimes, you know that?"

"Am not."

"You definitely are."

"Not."

"Are so."

 _"Down there,"_ came a shout and Katsumi looked up to see the med team heading towards them.

"About time," he muttered under his breath, lifting a hand to wave at them in acknowledgement. "Med team's here, Gamu."

"Okay."

He stepped back, feeling unaccountably upset now that the med team was here to take over, as if he wasn't necessary anymore. And that was just ridiculous because he was the one who'd called them and they were the ones who knew what to do in situations like this, but knowing that didn't help at all. Still, he stayed out of the way, letting them do their job: the last thing he wanted to do was get in the way and cause problems. He also couldn't account for the brief surge of happiness when he spotted Gamu trying to find him. He waved as Gamu's eyes landed on him and gave him a smile that he hoped was reassuring. It must have passed muster because Gamu relaxed and smiled back.

"I'll see you back at base," he called as Gamu was moved to the waiting ambulance. "Count on it."

***

"The problem is exhaustion," Gamu heard as he woke up. Somewhere between leaving Kajio-san and arriving back on the Aerial Base he'd fallen asleep again, but that sounded like Doctor Akiyama talking to... someone. "He doesn't have any injuries, internal or external, aside from a number of bruises I can't account for."

"Bruises?" the other person asked sharply and he thought it sounded like the Commander but he couldn't be sure. Things were a little fuzzy without Kajio-san's voice to hang onto and his head ached quite painfully.

"Several," the doctor agreed. "Is it possible he's been having... difficulties with anyone?"

"Doubtful," the Commander replied. "But I'll look into it anyway."

Wonderful, he sighed inwardly. They thought he was being bullied by someone. Great. How was he going to explain _that_ without admitting he was Gaia?

"Could that account for the exhaustion?"

"Possibly," was the cautious reply. "But that's speculation and all I can tell you for certain is that he is physically exhausted. He needs time to rest, Commander. Take him off shift for a few days so he can get back on his feet."

"Done," the Commander said reluctantly and Gamu wanted to protest. He couldn't take time off, what if monsters attacked and he needed to change into Gaia? He needed to be on duty... He went to sit up and had to lie back down as his vision blurred and his head spun, leaving him feeling ever so slightly queasy. That had been a bad idea. "Is he allowed visitors, doctor? I've got a list as long as your arm of people who want to see him."

"No more than two at a time," the doctor replied in amusement. "And not for long periods. But yes, he can have visitors when he wakes up."

"Good, thank you. I'll leave you to it, then, doctor."

Georgie and Atsuko were, predictably, the first in to see him and he sat through their scolding meekly, promising he wouldn't do it again, no, no he wouldn't and hoping fervently he wouldn't make a liar out of himself later because the pair had ways of expressing annoyance that he did not want to be on the receiving end of.

"You're off shift for a few days now, right?"

He opened his eyes in surprise and stared up at Kajio-san in bewilderment. He was sure the doctor had said no more visitors this evening. Kajio-san grinned slightly and held a finger up in front of his mouth and Gamu nodded obediently.

"Good," Kajio-san replied, keeping his voice low. "You'll be free then. The Lions are playing the Bay Stars at home tomorrow evening and they're going to hammer them," Kajio-san continued. "We're going and you can get your first lesson in baseball right at the source."

"Okay," he replied, wondering if this was actually happening or if he was having some kind of surreal dream where Kajio-san invited him out to baseball games. Not that this was exactly an invitation, he conceded, more like a statement of fact than an invitation, but still. He debated mentioning that he was supposed to be resting, then decided against it.

"Officer Kajio," came a stern voice from somewhere behind his friend and Kajio-san winced.

"Busted," he muttered under his breath and Gamu couldn't help but grin at the chagrined expression on his face.

"So busted," the nurse agreed easily. "Takayama-san needs to rest."

"That's the polite way of telling me to get out, right?"

"Mm hm."

"Alright, alright," he sighed. "I get it. I'm going. See you tomorrow, Gamu."

"See you tomorrow," Gamu agreed. "Goodnight, Kajio-san."

"Night."

Settling back down, Gamu now found sleep elusive. It had been hard to keep awake before but now it was impossible to sleep. He didn't have a date tomorrow evening, he told himself. No matter what it sounded like, it wasn't a date. Right? Probably not, no. Didn't mean he couldn't look forward to it anyway.


End file.
